Earth is in the ‘danger zone’ but it need not be terminal, it depends on us. In a Trump second term unpredictability will be the only given. Carbon credit discredited. Why so many of us got hooked on ‘Succession’. The unprecedented damage smartphones are doing to our relationships.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Johan Rockström and multiple authors, Safe and just Earth system boundaries
(Nature, 31 May 2023)
A must-read for understanding how to safeguard our global commons (or what is left of some of them). This article co-signed by 51 prominent scientists who form the Earth Group commission asserts that our Earth has already pushed past seven out of eight scientifically established safety limits. In simple terms: it is in “the danger zone,” not only for the climate and our natural environment, but also for the wellbeing of people living on it. The ‘good news’ in the bad news is this: the situation is not ‘terminal’, and the planet can recover if we, humans, prove capable of reducing the use of fossil fuels and the way we treat the land and water (free access – reads in 20 min+, but the graph on Proposed and safe ESBs – Earth System Boundaries – at the beginning sums it up).
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Joseph Nye, If Trump Returns
(Project Syndicate, 31 May 2023)
A possibility to contemplate. The Harvard professor elaborates on what a second Trump presidency would mean for US foreign policy and the world. He argues that Trump’s first term and his behaviour since losing re-election in 2020 offer plenty of clues, “none of which will be comforting to America’s allies (…). If he succeeds, the only predictable feature of US foreign policy will be unpredictability” (metered paywall that may require prior registration – reads in 6-8 min).
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Patrick Greenfield, CEO of biggest carbon credit certifier to resign after claims offsets worthless
(The Guardian, 26 May 2023)
Following a journalistic investigation showing that some of the rainforest credits it provided to big corporations were largely worthless, the head of the world’s leading carbon credit certifier just announced he is stepping down. The integrity of much of the carbon credit certification processes is now being called into question, with many large companies moving away from offsetting-based environmental claims. New players using AI and remote sensing are now coming on board, hopefully creating a new era of carbon markets (free access – reads in 5 min).
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Kurt Andersen, ‘Succession’ Nailed the Unreal Way We Live Now
(The New York Times, 29 May 2023)
Why did Succession resonate so much with so many people? Because the blurring of fiction and reality in the world the characters inhabit is “a devastating commentary on the blurring of fiction and reality in the world we viewers inhabit”, argues Andersen: a novelist and essayist. Two traits in particular help understand why it fits so well in the zeitgeist: (1) It plays with the notion that “big business and the rich hijacked and corrupted” the US political economy over the past several decades; (2) It shows that during the same period, the commingling of American TV news (and thus politics) and show business has accelerated and played a crucial role in the national unraveling (gifted article – reads in about 10 min).
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Andrew Sofin, As a Therapist, I Know What’s Breaking Couples Up
(The Walrus, 26 May 2023)
An ‘amusing’ piece about the scourge of the smartphone, in which a marriage and family therapist states: “Smartphones have caused more upheaval than anything I’ve seen in my career.” In his opinion, we’ve normalized them being intrusive and taking precedence, and we’ve gotten used to instantaneous communication when a healthy relationship requires us to slow down and listen to each other (free access – reads in 5 min).
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